http://www.boston.com/sports/articles/2007/08/22/kicking_open_new_doors/?page=2Kicking open new doors
Local duo's success helps pave way for New England soccer Sheanon Williams's performance for the US in the FIFA Under 17 World Cup in South Korea may go far in determining his chances for a professional career. (PAT GREENHOUSE/GLOBE STAFF)
By Frank Dell'Apa, Globe Staff | August 22, 2007
While growing up in Dorchester, Aaron Maund and Sheanon Williams used to play soccer wherever they could find a game. They dreamed of growing up to become professional players and being selected for the US national team.
Maund and Williams have moved far beyond those cold winter days of kick-arounds in the Frank V. Thompson Middle School gym as they compete in the FIFA Under 17 World Cup through Sept. 9 in South Korea.
For a change, though, Maund and Williams are on opposing teams. Maund was cut by the US and is performing for Trinidad and Tobago, the country of his father's birth. Williams, who is also of Trinidadian descent, is starting at right back for the US after being converted from a striker position.
Both Maund and Williams played the entire game but their teams got off to unsuccessful starts Monday. The US lost to Tajikistan, 4-3, and next plays Tunisia; Trinidad & Tobago lost to Ghana, 4-1.
"We first met when we were 6 years old," Williams recalled. "To see [Maund] on the other side will be great. He looked at the situation after it didn't work out [with the US] and it's going to be a great experience for him to be with Trinidad. It's definitely weird, but I have had other friends switch countries. I could have done the same thing."
The results of the U17 World Cup could go far in determining the futures of its participants. Most of the starting players in this event are either with professional clubs or destined for them soon.
The emergence of Maund and Williams also symbolizes the progress of local players, dozens of whom have forged professional careers from Major League Soccer to Eastern Europe.
Williams and Braintree's Scott Caldwell are enrolled in the Bradenton Soccer Academy in Florida, a full-time residency program for prospective national teamers. Williams has committed to the University of North Carolina but will likely receive professional offers before ever playing a game for the school.
Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst followed a similar path, leaving Cranston, R.I., to enroll in Bradenton at age 14 and progressing to become MLS Rookie of the Year in 2005 and a US national team player this year.
Maund, 16, attends Roxbury Latin and is going down a road similar to the one Charlie Davies took from Manchester, N.H., to the Brooks School to Boston College to Hammarby IF in Sweden, making his US national team debut this year.
Professional players with New England ties have usually gone through the collegiate ranks but Maund and Williams might be opening the doors to the inner city for prospective national team players.
But if this is to become a trend, the process of player development might have to change.
The progress of Maund and Williams was facilitated by the Greater Boston Bolts club team, which won a national championship two years ago at the U16 level. The team was coached by former MLS defender Francis Okaroh, who is attempting to change the prevailing developmental program.
"I don't believe kids 10, 11, 12 years old get to understand the game when they have to win, win, win," said Okaroh, who is now working with the South Shore United Blazers and is an assistant coach at Boston University. "If they are thinking about winning all the time, they are not going to last. They are going to be burned out by the time they could be thinking about playing professionally.
"Once they hit 14 or, if you have a special group of 13s, you can do it. If they start too early with coaches emphasizing winning so much, they won't be ready at the next level. The bigger kids will play a lot and they end up being cheated, because when the other kids catch up they have lost their edge
